Limitless
by Empty Chaos
Summary: Ash's true potential and future as a Pokémon trainer has been hidden and locked away by not only Ash, but the origin Pokémon himself. They convinced him it was for the best, they said it was for the safety of humanity. Follow Ash, as he sets out to prove them wrong. (Starts out light but as the story goes on the rating will probably increase) T for swearing.
1. Chapter 1

Ladies and Gentlemen I present my first fic to you. I feel this first chapter was good and solid, but enough of me talking, allow my writing to speak for me.

**Disclaimer: Pokémon isn't a part of my legal life, so I definitely don't own it**

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"And that's it folks, Ash Ketchum has been defeated by Tyson. Another league championship slips through the young trainer's grasp!" The announcer shouted.

Ash looked at his 'beaten' Pikachu with pain, regret and fury, '_Sorry Pi, its over.'_

Pikachu also had similar feelings. That Meowth was good, and he was not discing his opponent, but had he been limitless that cat would have a fear of mouses, '_Got it Ash, don't worry, its not that big of a deal'_

Ash bowed his head, walked to the middle, shook Tyson's hand, saying that it was an amazing battle, and that he will go far in the elite four challenge. Then, he walked away.

As Ash walked away he could hear the crowd chanting Tyson's name, _That should have been me, _Ash thought with regret. That should be him receiving the first place trophy, should be him thinking ahead to the elite four challenge. This last defeat had Ash truly questioning his initial decision, he had been naive then but now he was not. And he knew a fraud when he saw one.

_Flashback_

_'Ash Ketchum, we are sorry to inform you that because of your proficiency,with all of the variables life holds, you could go dark, and start destroying the Pokémon world. So the council has concluded to put a limiter, something that will lock away your potential from not only you, but also your Pokémon you've caught and will catch. This is a safety precaution and we hope you understand.' The Alpha Pokémon stated, almost like he was reading it off a paper._

_A 10-year-old Ash, having just competed in the Indigo league, was not expecting this after splitting from his group of friends. Ash however, nodded, for he was naïve and he knew not the repercussions of this action._

_Arceus, seeing the subtle gesture, began to commence the operation._

_Flashback end_

Ash would break that limiter; he would prove that he is the best; that would be his name they were chanting.

Pikachu noticed his friend's hand clench, and understood what is going on in his head, but he did not interrupt or voice disagreement, for he agreed with him.

Hoenn had been a breeze. It was quite simple, he knew how things worked now, and he placed higher in the league, but lost to Tyson in top 8 (The above battle for all you slow witted folks). The battle was uneventful. Ash and his Pokémon acted their way through six not so hard fought battles. Now though, it was time to head back to Pallet and relax,

_'Wait a minute, aren't we forgetting something?' _Ash asked to his starter.

"Ash!"

"Oh yeah."

"Fantastic battle Ash, it was a sight to see!" a tall squinty-eyed man exclaimed.

"Yeah Ash, it was awesome!" a short kid with glasses agreed.

"It was great Ash, you almost had him." May said nodding.

That word hit him like a ton of bricks, _almost. _

Ash shook his head, '_Later', _he thought, "Thanks guys, that means a lot."

"Aren't you going to stay for the award ceremony? you did get second place." Brock asked

Ash sighed, "No. They can wire the prize money to my account, they know how."

The group shared a quizzical glance, then wrote it off as Ash being depressed. They didn't know the half of it.

After some more small talk the time had flew by and Max's eyes bugged out of his head as he looked at his watch, "Come on Ash, we have to catch a boat that will take us back to Petalburgh."

The group shared an awkward stare, this was it... again.

May shook herself out of her stupor, "I'm sorry we can't stay longer, but this is the last boat for the rest of the week."

"I understand," Ash, said with a dip of his head in acknowledgement, "If I were you I wouldn't be able to wait until I got home, we should go to the docks now."

"I agree, let's hurry so you don't miss your boat, then you'd be stuck with us for another week." Brock said, attempting to lighten the mood.

Max let out a sullen chuckle, while May said, "You know what Brock? I don't think that's a bad thing."

The group disregarded the feelings that told them to stay and hurried down to the docks, barely in time to catch the boat. The now split group waved goodbye as the SS Sadie disappeared into the setting sun.

Ash and Brock looked at each other, "The plane leaves tomorrow at 11, we should get some rest." Brock said.

Ash agreed, and the two walked back to the hotel, talking about what one another would do next. It wasn't long before the duo reached their hotel by the airport. They quickly and silently made their way up to their room, and did their nightly routine.

After Ash had taken a shower, it was Brock's turn. And while Brock was in the shower, Ash and Pikachu were having a discussion,

"What are we going to do next Pi? I mean, the Battle Frontier is out of the question, it isn't even completed yet." Ash said, pondering where to go.

_'You're asking the wrong Pokémon Ash, I really know almost nothing.' _Pikachu said worriedly.

"Yeah, but I heard May talking about something in Sinnoh, want to do some research on the region?" Ash inquired his little yellow companion.

_'Sure Ash, not like we have another option.' _

Ash then heard the shower stop running, so he walked over to the door and knocked three times.

"Hey Brock!" Ash shouted through the door.

"Give me a sec Ash, just getting dressed!" Brock shouted back.

"Don't rush, just wanted to tell you that me and Pi are going to head downstairs."

"Okay Ash, but I'll be asleep when you get back, so bring a room key."

"Thanks Brock." Ash said as he opened and closed the door.

_Downstairs, on the computer_

"Says here their champion defeated Lance in a 6 on 6 match. Sounds like it was close though, a downright stare down between Dragonite and Garchomp." Ash observed as he scrolled down the Sinnoh region battle site… uh .com (Yes, they have a website).

_'Sounds like fun, wait, I know that look." _Pi said warily as he eyed his trainer's face, _'you're not thinking about… you _are _thinking about it.' _

"Of course, I'll talk to Arceus tonight, and if he disagrees, then I'll do it myself." Ash said, firing blazing in his eyes.

Pikachu however, wasn't so sure about this, but knew that it would be for the best. All of his current Pokémon were at the limiter placed by Arceus. That limiter made Ash a slightly above average trainer, and his Pokémon a little more than slightly above average. He was tired of being just another face in the crowd; he was ready for more. Pikachu did however; notice something that turned the tables of his trainer's agreement with Arceus in Ash's favor. He had made the alpha Pokémon allowed him and the rest of the world to age extremely slowly, so that he and all of his loved one's would take nearly forever to die. The only way deaths could occur were through murder, sickness, genocide, suicide, lethal accidents, you get the idea.

With Pikachu on the same page as him he picked up the yellow mouse and hurried up the stairs and to his room. After falling asleep he entered the hall of origin.

_Hall of Origin_

"I know what you want chosen one, I will not grant your wish." Arceus firmly stated.

"Then I will do it myself, I am tired of being called a lazy ass, and looked down upon as weak." Ash said, maintaining eye contact with the god Pokémon.

"How will you do it?" Arceus asked, perplexed as how a human would break his seal.

"With aura, you never put a limiter on that, and in the past 4 years I have trained it to near perfection, I _will _be able to break your seal Arceus. So take it off, or I will." Ash threatened the god Pokémon.

Arceus knew what would happen to him if a mortal broke his seal, and Ash knew too, that was why he brought it up. His immortality would be revoked, and some of his power would be given to Ash through the life plates that made up the Seal of Restrict. Arceus's judgment (No pun intended) was blinded by pride, and he did not believe this foolish human would be able to break the limiter,

"You cannot break it Ash, it is of divine origin." Arceus voiced as much.

"Watch me."

Then Ash disappeared in a swirl of black smoke.

_The following morning_

"Brock, wake up!"

"Brooock?"

"Hellooo?"

"Wake up!"

_'It's not working, Ash' _Pikachu was getting annoyed with Ash's useless attempts.

"Holy shit man, wake the hell up!"

_'He's not waking up Ash' _Pikachu said, stating the obvious.

"I feel a familiar presence, reveal yourself!" Ash leaned out the window, and called into the early morning scenery.

_'Interesting, it seems you weren't lying Ash, you are proficient in Aura.' _A black Pokémon said, revealing itself.

"I figured as much Darkrai, Brock is not a heavy sleeper and he never sleeps in. Did Arceus send you to watch me so I don't break the limiter?" Ash spat at the nightmare Pokémon.

Darkrai merely chuckled, "No chosen one, many of my brethren, and uh… sistren believe Arceus is foolhardy to limit you, as you have been told, you have a pure heart. It would take a great many wrongs to fully turn you. You would be more of an asset than a hindrance."

Ash however, was confused, "What are you getting at?"

"I wish to come with you, to prove Arceus wrong." Darkrai said, his voice and intentions unclouded.

"Alright" Ash said.

Darkrai was slightly baffled, "Why are you so calm? Every other man, woman and child would be jumping for joy if I even showed myself, let alone ask them to catch me."

Ash chuckled at the Pokémon, "I have already taken the first stages to breaking my limiter. This allows for me to have greater control over emotions, I am honored for you're decision, but I am merely hiding the emotions, for I am using them to break the seal even more so."

"Genius!" Said a baffled Darkrai.

"Now, wake up Brock, allow me to catch you, then teleport us to the station, then wipe Brock's memory of you." Ash commanded.

Darkrai nodded and followed the string of commands perfectly, and within moments, Brock was obliviously flirting with one of the flight attendants.

The plane ride was uneventful, Ash was asleep, still continuing to break the limiter, Pikachu was also napping, and Brock was in the bathroom because of his airsickness. This trend went on for 8 hours. With Brock coming back occasionally, flirting with a girl, accidentally glancing out the window, and immediately going back into the bathroom.

Ash awoke to the sound of the pilots voice as he announced they were preparing their descent into Viridian city airport. Telling them the temperature as well as the time, 7:00 pm (19:00 for all you foreigners ;).

Ash looked around for Brock, before remembering his airsickness, and pondering why he decided for them to fly here. Just before the plane landed, Brock stumbled back to his seat. Within moments of Brock buckling his belt, the plane touched down. The passengers were jostled around as the plane finally came to a slow taxi

"Finally, Pi. Back in Kanto." Ash said, not really directed at his Pokémon, but just as an exclamation to the world.

"Yeah Ash, its been so long since we've been back." Brock agreed, still al little queasy.

"You know, one of these days I am going to get you over your air sickness problem." Ash said with mock determination.

Brock just laughed along with Ash, nothing out of the ordinary. Just two friends living it up on an airplane back home. However, that was not about to change, but it would change… in a while. The plane halted at the gate, and the captain announced that the fasten seatbelt sign was now off, and to have a nice evening. Ash and Brock quickly dismounted, and walked off in the direction of the exit, or…

"Other way!" Ash exclaimed, and Brock just sweatdropped as they saw a sign for terminal E.

The pair turned on their heels and walked the other direction. Viridian airport was not small, but it was not huge. Just like the city, and on the way out, Ash and Brock made small talk about the quickest way home. And yes, Ash had miraculously developed a sense of direction.

"So if we go around Viridian forest, we will avoid trainers and Pokémon battles, but it will be more direct, probably get us there 5 hours early depending on how many battles we are in." Brock explained.

Ash just sighed, knowing he was going to have to do something so unlike him, "You know Brock, I think we should go around, knowing us the Pokémon battles and random accidents would be around every tree, besides, I heard that the way around is paved. So no knew shoes for me."

Brock was slightly shocked, but was unable to argue with his friend's logic, "Well then, the long possibly shorter way we go!"

Ash just laughed as the pair set off in the direction of the long possibly shorter route.

The walk was uneventful, which was surprising, because normally the groups get into all kinds of trouble. This made the walk home less than two days. The nights were predictable in Kanto, mediocre and perfect. So the group was able to sleep outside, under the stars, and Pokémon out. The group would awake to a perfect five star breakfast from Brock, then train for 1 hour, and then continue to walk. It was a little before 6 pm that the pair came up on the Pewter/Pallet fork.

Ash looked a Brock, a little sadly even, "It's a shame we're here again; maybe we should have taken the long way."

Brock was also disappointed, journeys were fun, and it was what allowed them to experience true freedom. And what better way to experience freedom then with your best friend, "Your right Ash, 1 more run in with Team Rocket wouldn't have hurt."

"Yeah, those three made our journey complete." Ash joked with a sad smile.

Brock also grinned, "Yeah, they haven't tried to take our Pokémon for a while, wonder what happened to them."

_Somewhere in Orre_

"Hey Jess, you think we took a wrong turn?" Asked a lavender haired man.

"Not a chance James, right now we're in eastern Kanto, cant you tell by the desert?" a red haired girl assured her partner.

"Yeah Jimmy, we'se be goin da right way." A talking Meowth imputed.

"We'll be right back on the twerps tail, just you wait!" Jesse cried with conviction.

_Back in Kanto_

"Yeah, wonder if they got lost?" Ash laughed, imagining the trio lost in a different region.

Brock smiled even more, "Nah, they'd probably have starved to death by now."

Ash however, once again got another sad look on his face, and no matter how immature it made him sound, he had to get it out, "Brock?"

"Hm?"

"Are we… are we ever gonna see each other again?" There it was, he had let it out.

Brock was not surprised, he wanted to ask the same thing, "I don't know Ash, but if we don't run into each other on your next journey, we _will _see each other again."

Ash nodded, his eyes now sparkling with unshed tears. He didn't care if anyone saw, he hugged Brock, the man who had been with him for most of his youth, hell he had been the father that Ash never had, and now his 'dad' was leaving again.

Brock's eyes began to sparkle as well as he hugged back; he and Ash were closer than anyone he knew. Even closer than his own siblings, he knew what Ash thought about him, and he didn't want to break that, as young kids, the bond was formed. It would not be broken now, after five years, there was nothing that would break this bond, not time nor distance. The pair held each other for a moment longer before breaking apart.

"Brock, it's been an honor." Ash said with a bow, showing his respect for the older man.

Brock nodded, "Ash, it's also been an honor, and like I said, we _will _see each other again."

Ash nodded, dried his eyes, and the pair shared a firm handshake, both not willing to break eye contact. After a moment that felt like an hour, they once again broke apart. Then they turned and walked in opposite directions, one heading to Pewter, the other to Pallet.

Pikachu looked at his friend with worry apparent in his eyes, _"You gonna be alright Ash?" _

Ash nodded wordlessly. Pikachu however, was not convinced.

_"Ash, we've been with each other every moment of our lives for the past five years. You can't fool me." _

Ash just sighed. "I know Pi, but its gonna be real different without Brock and everyone."

_"But Ash, you go through this every journey, what made this one so special?" _Pikachu asked.

"I don't know, I think it had something to do with the tree of beginning." Ash admitted.

Pikachu nodded, but not fully understanding how the tree made a difference, _"Why does the tree make this journey so special?"_

"After the tree, we lost a friend. The fact that people I had only known for a few months with the exception of Brock would go to such great lengths to save you, my Pokémon. They risked their lives for someone they barely knew. That experience made us all the closer." Ash explained.

Pikachu noticed his trainer babbling a bit, but didn't interfere, _"Don't worry, you'll be_

_fine in a few days." _

Ash nodded, then looked in shock at his surroundings. The pair hardly noticed that the forest had gotten thicker and darker.

_"Must be night, I recommend we don't set up camp. If we keep moving we might be able to get out in 3 hours, then we can camp." _Pikachu advised.

Ash agreed and they quickened their pace. However, it was not to be,

"Pikachu? Was that canyon always there?"

Pikachu was shocked; this was not a natural occurrence.

"Pi, I don't think this is natural. There is a weird aura coming from deep within. It's unmistakably rage. Want to check it out?"

_"Even if I said no, you would still go." _

"Yep."

And with that Ash grabbed Pikachu and back flipped into the chasm. On the way down his aura armor formed. It was jet black all over, except there were red lines that flowed with energy. His helmet was black as well, but there were no lines. He had a black visor that covered his whole face (Think an ODST, but with full gloves, and red flowing lines).

As soon as his feet hit the ground, he was swiped into the canyon wall by a tentacle of something. Thankfully for the electric mouse, Ash had let go of him just as he had been smashed into the wall. Pikachu wasn't worried though. Ash had gotten hit harder before. Ash indeed was fine, he walked out of the rubble and stood next to his Pokémon. Ash closed his eyes and swept the whole chasm with his aura sight. He soon came upon another strong aura. Ash opened his eyes and ran in that direction. As he ran he was constantly dodging the attacks that the being sent at him. Soon he began to see what he was up against. The being let out an enraged roar that caused Ash to flinch. It looked like a Groudon, but that would be impossible. He suddenly had a flashback to his encounter with Jirachi. This was another attempt at a Groudon.

"Pikachu, I know your not going to like this but in order to take this thing down I need you in your pokeball."

Pikachu nodded and allowed Ash to return him to his ball.

"Now," Ash said to himself as he looked at the artificial Groudon, "Your mine." And with that the entire chasm exploded into red energy. This went on for 30 minutes until it stopped. All that was left of the Groudon reject was a pile of ash. After admiring his handiwork he used what was left of his aura reserves to jump out of the chasm. Then, using the last ounce of strength he had, he released Pikachu from his ball, and then he closed his eyes.

Ash woke up and noticed he was on the outskirts of his hometown. He quickly looked at himself, no armor. He breathed a sigh of relief; it was too soon for anyone to see him in his armor. However, he began to wonder how he got here.

"How did I get here?" He asked to his yellow partner.

_"I brought you here." _A voice that was not Pikachu's said.

"Thank you Darkrai. That was most helpful." Ash thanked his Pokémon.

_"Ash I heard about your run in with a fake Groudon. This is Arceus's doing." _The nightmare Pokémon said.

Ash nodded, it made sense, "So you mean he did this to drain my power so I couldn't break the seal."

Darkrai nodded, "You are intelligent Ash. Stay smart, stay quick and you will be fine in the end."

"I hope so, thanks for the ride, return for now." Ash said, holding up a pokeball.

The nightmare Pokémon was sucked in, and Pikachu hopped up on Ash's shoulder.

_"This should be fun, lots of rest, and your mom's cooking." _Pikachu said, his tone brightening as he mentioned the cooking.

Ash laughed, he liked the cooking too.

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AN:

Please review, with this first fic I'll be looking for feedback to motivate (Or unmotivated) me from updating quicker. So let the reviews flow!


	2. Chapter 2

Hope your ready for the second chapter. To everyone that toughed through the first chapter, you guys are my new favorite people in the world! No really, I love you guys.

**Disclaimer: Like before, I still have not captured Pokemon**

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"Hey mom, you here?"

"Honey! Your back early!" Delia said as she ran out to give her son a big hug.

"Delia, who's at the door?" A male voice said

Ash was slightly shocked, but he would let his mother explain.

"Ash, your back!" A man he knew too well came into view

"Professor Oak!" Ash cried in surprise. He was not who expected to see the elderly professor, "I was about to run down to the lab to see my old Pokémon and give my current one's some air."

The Pokémon professor nodded, "That sounds good, Delia, would you like to come as well?"

The women shook her head, "No thanks Sam, you know I've never liked that sort of thing."

The researcher smiled and turned and walked out the door after Ash shouting, "Wait up! I'm not as young as I used to be!"

Ash laughed, but still slowed down,

"Professor, have there been any problems at the lab?"

The professor gave him a quizzical look, "Why would you think something like that would happen?"

"I don't know" Ash shrugged, "But it could happen, you cant be too careful."

Professor Oak smiled; Ash was growing up, "Your growing up Ash, that's good. But for Delia's sake, don't grow up too fast."

"Alright Professor." Ash chuckled at Oak's sappiness.

Then Ash stopped and gulped. Before him lay the endless set of stairs that led to the professor's lab. After a quick 'really?' glance at Oak, he trudged up the stairs.

"You know" pant "You should" pant "Really" pant "Really get an" pant "elevator" Crash.

Ash had finally reached the top, and all but collapsed in a not so dignified, not so glorified heap.

Oak just gave him a glance, walked by him and opened the door to the lab. As soon as the click was heard he shot up and walked inside behind the professor.

Ash gave the Pokémon Professor a quick glance, how he managed to survive those stairs without dying of cardiac arrest shocked him.

Oak grinned, "Well Ash, let's see your new team."

Ash nodded and threw out his team from Hoenn minus Darkrai. Ash respected Oak, but he had no intention of showing Darkrai to his own mother, so Oak would have to wait.

Oak raised an eyebrow, "Impressive young man, all of your Pokémon are in their fully evolved stages, even your Crawdaunt. Corphish are notorious for being impossible to evolve."

Ash grinned under the praise. He had every right to be proud. Even with the limiter in place he had managed to push his Pokémon to their limits, which was a feat for most trainers in general.

"Thank you Professor, that means a lot coming from you." Ash bowed

Oak nodded, then asked if he could see them in action. Ash was confused by the request, but soon understood that he meant mock battles between them.

"Sure Professor, give me a moment." Ash said, then he walked off to prepare and assign his Pokémon.

After the promised moment the Pokémon were lined up on their chosen battleground. The matches were as follows

Torkoal vs Quilava (Yeah, I'm gonna have him be evolved pre Sinnoh)

Crawdaunt vs Totodile

Glalie vs Taurous

Swellow vs Noctowl

Sceptile vs Bayleef

Oak watched as the Pokémon fought. It truly was something to behold, even though Floatzel was evolved Totodile was still managing to hold his own. Quilava had to keep his attacks extremely powerful to make a dent in the tortoise tank, but was holding relatively well even being at a disadvantage (Not type, just in general). Though Swellow dwarfed the smaller Noctowl, the Johto Pokémon was able to se its Psychic abilities to gain the advantage. Glalie and Taurous clashed repeatedly in a battle to see who held the greater power. Although Bayleef was strong in her own right, she just could not keep up with Sceptile, and the battle was a little one sided.

Watching the battles gave the Professor a thrill, but it also gave him something to think about,

_'Dang, I forgot to tell Ash about Liza and Charizard.'_ Oak mentally pounded himself

"So Professor, what do you think?" Ash had stopped the battles to prevent any injuries, some were happier (Bayleef) about it than others (Tauros and Glalie)

"I was impressed, but It's getting late, and I don't think your mother would want you late for dinner." Oak advised

Ash nodded, "Alright, you wouldn't mind if I left my Pokémon here for the night would you?"

"Not a problem young man." Oak said with a dismissive wave

Ash nodded and began to leave, but just before the trainer was out of an earshot Oak remembered the important topic he had to discuss with Ash.

"Oh and Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Liza called a few days ago, she asked if it would be all right if he joined up with your team?" Oak asked

Ash grinned, he would like to see how the limiter affected a Pokémon that is currently over the level set by the limiter, but then again, it could be a problem

"I dunno Professor, is it alright with you? You'll have to take care of him most of the time." Ash asked, trying to weasel out of re-obtaining the fire dragon.

Oak's response was cut of by a knock at the front door.

"Wonder who that could be?" Oak asked, "Ash, could you get it?"

Ash nodded, "Sure Professor"

Ash opened the door expecting a research colleague, not a smirking orange dragon

Ash gulped, "…Hi?"  
Charizard let out a mighty flamethrower to demonstrate its power. Sadly he needed a test subject. And we all know who that ended up being.

"AAHHH! Hot! Hot! Put it out!"

Ash ran shouting back into the house, earning a sweat drop from Oak, Pikachu and the Pokémon that knew Charizard.

"Well Ash, looks like you don't have mush of a choice." Oak chuckled

Ash just grumbled something that sounded like 'Smart ass' and walked away to find his water Pokémon. Oak just laughed and so did all of the Pokémon. Ash was in for it when he got back.

_Scene change_

"So Ash, did you like Hoenn?" Asked Delia

Ash nodded, "Yeah, it was fun and the weather was also great"

"That's good to hear, I was thinking about taking a vacation while you're in Sinnoh." Ash's mom smiled.

Ash grinned sheepishly, "So you knew, huh?"

"Yep!" The woman chirped, "I got a call from Mister Maple, he wanted to thank you for putting up with May and Max. He said that it meant a lot to him that May had good company on her first journey."

Ash stood up suddenly, "If you don't mind, could I call Mr. Maple? Just to chat."

Delia shrugged, "Sure honey, you know where the phone is."

Ash strode over to the house's videophone and dialed the memorized number of the Maple's house. Ash heard the phone ring in the back ground until a click signified his call's success

"Hello?" asked a male voice on the other end of the line.

"It's Ash Ketchum, sir. My mom told me but I wanted to talk personally." Ash said.

"Oh, Ash!" The man's tone brightened, "Sure, give me a moment"

Ash complied, and soon the screen turned on showing a picture of Norman in the Maple household.

"Alright, now we can talk properly." The man said.

"I wanted to tell you that it wasn't a big deal, May and Max were great." Ash said sincerely

Norman raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Well… for the most part." Ash chuckled as he remembered the common arguments between the siblings.

"If you say so, but I still wish to express my gratitude. May and Max was really quite sad when they got home. I guess leaving friends is tough." Norman reminisced

Ash nodded, "It's not the best part of the journey, but if you, Max or May need something then I can give you my cell number."

Norman's mood brightened and he got a sly grin on his face, "Ash, is this some indirect attempt at getting my daughter your phone number?"

"Sir?" Ash turned red.

Norman laughed at the embarrassed boy, "I was only joking. Thank you Ash, I'm sure May and Max will be calling you every day."

Ash nodded, "Thank you for your time, as well as allowing me and you children to travel with me."

"It was no problem, you're like a second family now there is no need to be so formal." Norman smiled.

"Alright… Norman, I'll see you on the flip side." Ash was about to disconnect when he heard the man say something,

"By the way Ash,"

"Yeah?"

"I would be perfectly okay with you dating my daughter."

Ash groaned and ended the call once he heard Norman laughing. That man was odd, one minute he was an over protective gym leader, and then he's that humorly challenged friend.

Ash walked back into the dining room, seeing all the plates gone. He looked towards the kitchen and saw his mom washing the dishes, humming quietly to herself. Deciding not to disturb her the trainer quietly made his way up to his bedroom. The room had been refurnished after his journey through the orange islands. Now it was more adult, sporting a larger bed, a simple desk and some photos taken and sketched by Tracy that were hung up on the walls. His orange league badges were in a case on his dresser right beside his Hoenn and Indigo badges. He admired them for a second. The first two indicated his triumph and victory; the last case (Hoenn) contrasted the first two greatly. It was the first journey where he actually felt limited by the placed limiter.

He noticed that it was getting late, so he decided that he should sleep. For some reason unknown to him, his mom always cooked dinner late, and his call with Norman added to the time. It was now 10 o'clock, and even though it wasn't that late, jetlag was slowly taking hold of the young trainer. So he climbed into his bed, but realized he couldn't fall asleep. So he grabbed the remote off the bedside table, and decided he would watch TV for 30 minutes then he would sleep. So the trainer sat through a re run of this Sinnoh region documentary before finally dozing off.

_Dream_

Ash's eyes searched the white horizon, he had been here before, and he wasn't about to allow this precious opportunity to escape his grasp again. He suddenly began flying forward, and all of the blue specks that surrounded him shot past him at un imaginable speeds. Then the trainer slowed down as he neared what appeared to be a giant pyramid. Though black in color it bared a strong resemblance to the pyramids built by the ancient Egyptians. Although as he neard the pyramid it became apparent that the structure was not flat, but was filled with a seemingly endless maze. In truth, that was what it is, one giant maze. There was an orange energy that flowed in a circle around the middle of the pyramid, then the energy branched of into two separate lines that went on infinitely.

"The Seal of Arceus" Ash muttered in hate.

Ash shot forward again, this time when he stopped he was in a dark room , with the only light coming from the orange lines of energy the flowed up and down the walls. In the middle of the room sat a sphere that glowed orange. The sphere was a part of Arceus; it was the fire, ground and dragon plates that made up the seal. Back in Machina town a younger Arceus said that the jewel of life could not break, he said nothing about the jewel of restrict.

Suddenly, a red aura began to form around Ash, soon it began circulating around him much like that of a stone edge, but there were only three circles. Soon the circles began forming and orb directly in front of Ash. The sphere grew in size and the circles diminished in size. As soon as the final red circled disappeared into the orb Ash unleashed the most powerful aura attack in his possession. The attack would have hollowed out a small mountain, but it appeared to do nothing to the sphere. Ash let out a surprised shout.

"How is this possible?" He cried in disbelief

Suddenly a laughing sound could be heard and Ash knew that he had to leave. The drained user pulsed what was left of his aura into his leg muscles and jumped towards the opening he had created. He shot through the opening just before it sealed itself. Ash sighed and he turned to gaze upon the pyramid, but it was gone.

Ash cried in frustration, then he felt something shaking him. He knew it was time to wake up.

_End dream_

"…Ash! Wake up!" A female voice called

_'Funny,' _Ash thought, _'that sounds an awful lot like May.'_

Ash dismissed it and grumbled a 'Fine'. He heard footsteps signaling the person's leave. Ash rubbed his sleepy eyes, trying to get his vision back. Once he did he realized the crushed TV remote in his right hand.

"Whoops." He mumbled and put the pieces on his bedside table. He eyed his clock that read 10:00 AM

"Sweet, that almost 12 hours! No wonder whoever walked in here sounded angry." Ash mused.

The trainer then gathered his clothes and walked into the bathroom to shower. After his admittedly long shower he walked back into his room because he forgot his shirt. He was surprised to see a young boy with dark green hair and glassed.

"Max?"

The boy jumped in surprise, then smiled and ran over to hug the trainer. Ash felt the boy's arms around him and awkwardly hugged back.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked

"Oh, thanks to my dad being a gym leader we were awarded plane tickets to any region for a week while a temporary leader took over." Max explained with a happy grin.

"So your on vacation?" Asked Ash

"Yep" Answered the chipper boy

"So, why here?" Ash asked again. He felt slightly sorry for interviewing the boy, but he was surprised and wanted some answers.

"Isn't it obvious." The boy giggled

"Um… no?" Ash felt like he was missing something that would make him look like a huge idiot

Max opened his mouth to answer, but the voice wasn't his own. It was older, and more feminine

"Because you're here!"

Ash looked surprised, "May too?"

True to his word, the girl he had traveled with through Hoenn stood in the front door, eyeing Ash.

"The whole families here." May said, then she blushed and turned around

Ash became slightly worried, "What's the matter?"

"You… You have no shirt on." May stammered out.

Realization hit Ash, he had totally forgotten.

"Oh, right sorry. I just got sorta side tracked." Ash said looking at Max, who shrugged.

"Whatever, just get a shirt on and come down for breakfast." May then called to Max and then left without waiting for a response.

"Good morning to you too." Ash grumbled as he picked out a shirt.

_With Max and May_

Max walked with May towards the dining room, he hadn't been expecting Ash to come in like that and he felt kinda bad for snooping. But the trainer hadn't seemed to mind. In fact, neither had his sister. He looked up at her and noticed the faint blush still lingering on her face. Max grinned with this new bit of information he had against May. This was going to be a fun two weeks.

The duo arrived in the dining room to find Caroline and Delia happily chatting about Ash's journey through Kanto, and May's through Hoenn.

"Ash was telling me how he, Brock and Misty got attacked by Team Rocket almost on a daily basis!" an annoyed Delia said

Caroline adopted a shocked expression, "In Kanto too!"

"Yeah, why" Asked Delia, confused about the other woman's comment

"May would rave about these three useless Team Rocket members who stalked them all throughout Hoenn." Caroline explained.

"Seriously!" Delia nearly shouted

"But at least with Ash there those incompetent fools didn't pose a large threat." Caroline praised

Delia giggled, "That's my Ash!"

May and Max had stayed out of the conversation, for Ash had already explained to them about his previous adventures. Norman was sitting on the couch; flipping through channels on the TV when he noticed the two standing they're looking lost.

The man patted the seats next to him, indicating that he wanted them to sit by him.

"Wonder what's taking Ash so long?" May wondered

"Yeah," Max agreed, "I mean, it was only a shirt."

There questions were soon answered by a shout followed by consecutive crashes. Everyone ran over to see a charred Ash at the bottom of the stairs with a grinning Pikachu standing on his chest.

"Pi, Pikachu" The mouse said victoriously

Ash puffed out some smoke and said, "Alright, I'm sorry I stepped on you."

The mouse nodded and then noticed May and Max. He hopped into the latter's arms and began cuddling the boy. All the people's attention was now directed at Max and Pikachu while Ash slowly made his way to his feet.

"Oh sure," Ash grumbled, "He's cute now but wait until you step on him when he's sitting under your carpet."

The group chuckled at Ash who groaned again, but went back into his room to change clothes. Max continued to play with Pikachu, May and Norman continued to surf channels to find something interesting. Then Max walked over to his backpack and pulled out the tape of Ash's Silver Conference battles and the tape of his battle against Drake of the Orange league. He showed them to Pikachu who nodded happily. Max walked over to the DVD player and inserted the Silver conference disk. The loading screen for the DVD interrupted the battle between two no name trainers.

"Hey!" May and Norman shouted.

Max ignored them and selected Ash's battle against Gary. Norman realized what his son was doing and smiled, he had seen the battle once and was impressed. It was worth watching again. May on the other hand was surprised as she saw Ash on one side of a battlefield and a brown haired boy on the other. She then realized that no matter how many times her brother bugged her about the battles Ash won in the Silver conference she had never actually seen the tape, and was shocked when she Ash's massive Charizard take down Gary's intimidating Blastoise.

"Incredible." May breathed.

Ash then walked down the stairs and was shocked to see Norman, May and Max engrossed in his victory over Gary.

Max then turned to May and pointed a finger, "See May! I told you it was a good battle."

"That is an impressive Charizard, too bad we'll probably never meet it. I would like to have a crack against it." Norman sulked

Ash then got an idea. His house had high enough ceilings, probably. He walked away to make a call to Professor Oak.

Max had decided to put in the tape for Ash's battle against Drake. This kept them occupied long enough for Ash to get what he needed from Professor Oak. Then Ash walked behind the couch containing the three Maples and released Charizard. The Pokémon was about to roar when he saw Ash put a finger to his lips in the unified 'shush!' symbol. Ash then explained the situation to him and saw the dragon smirk, and Ash paled. This was going to be loud.

Once the battle had ended Max walked over to the DVD player and removed his treasured possession. When he turned around he went white, but saw Ash's 'shush' symbol, and he understood. He collected himself and then went to put the disc away.

Norman had asked what was wrong, but his concern was brushed off with Max saying that he just felt dizzy for a second.

Then he noticed a smirking Ash sitting beside him in the place of Max. He stared at Ash for a moment then turned to look at May. Only what was sitting next to him was hardly his little girl.

"Roar?" The large orange dragon called meekly.

"AHH!" Norman screamed and began to cling to Ash for dear life.

Norman heard Ash began to chuckle and May and Max fall to the ground in laughter.  
Delia and Caroline ran in to see what was wrong and saw the strangest sight. Norman was whiter than a sheet, Ash was trying to stifle his chuckles and May and Max were supporting each other as they laughed their hearts out. But the oddest thing, was the smirking dragon sitting on one end of the couch holding the remote.

Delia then went into OCD mother mode,

"Charizard if you don't get off the couch this instant then no Pokéblock for a we…"

Delia's rant was broken off by a loud crash. It took everyone a moment to realize what had happened. The section of couch that Charizard was sitting on broke, sending Charizard's end down and Ash's and Norman's end up. Ash and Norman were consequently launched into the ceiling because of the Pokémon's massive weight.

As Ash and Norman crashed to the ground Charizard got a sheepish grin on his face

"CHARIZARD!" Delia raged as she started stomping towards the fire type.

The Dragon let out a scared shout and hid behind Ash. Ash was so woozy from the fall he probably didn't even notice. And Delia at the moment could not be stopped. The woman picked up Ash by the collar of his shirt and then flung him at the couch, breaking the entire backrest off. She then approached the large dragon who meekly shrugged his shoulders.

"No more pokeblock for a month!" Delia seethed.

Charizard's jaw hit the floor and he got onto his knees and gave the woman a hug as if to say he was sorry.

Delia wasn't buying it.

"Don't you suck up to me!" She said in a motherly tone.

Charizard sulked and trudged over to where his trainer lay incoherently babbling and picked him up. He carried his traumatized trainer out the door fireman style and shut the door behind him.

As Delia walked away to call Professor Oak the Maple family was still shocked by what had to be the oddest display in the entire history of the world. Norman then broke the silence.

"I think Ash trained that Charizard well."

* * *

AN:  
Not my best chapter, so by deduction, my worst! NOOOO! Oh well, hope you guys were able to stand it.


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